Homemade, creamy vegan butterscotch pudding that’s just like the comforting, nostalgic, old-fashioned version you remember except it’s dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and gluten-free. Top this quick, easy vegan dessert with plant-based whipped cream, caramel sauce, or crushed cookies. Everyone will be asking for more of this silky smooth, rich, crave-worthy vegan pudding!
Add the dairy-free milk, vegan heavy cream, and cornstarch to a medium-sized bowl or a large measuring cup and whisk until the cornstarch has incorporated into the milk and there are no lumps. Set aside.
Add the dark brown sugar, water, and salt to a medium saucepan. Whisk until combined and no lumps remain. If there are lumps, break them up with the back of a spoon.
Place pot on medium-high heat for 6 minutes. The mixture will start to bubble around the 4-minute mark, continue boiling until you get to 6 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
Whisk the milk mixture you made earlier once more and then slowly and carefully pour it into the hot sugar mixture, whisk the mixture until everything has combined and return the pot to the heat.
Continuously whisk until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon without dripping off, this will take 5 minutes. (See images above)
Remove the pot from the heat and add the vegan butter and vanilla, whisk until the butter has fully melted.
Allow the pudding to sit in the pot to cool down for 15 minutes. IMPORTANT: Whisk the pudding every few minutes during the rest time so it does not start to form a skin on top.
Pour pudding into a medium-sized glass bowl or evenly divide between individual serving bowls. Use a rubber spatula to get every last bit of the pudding out of the pot.
Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding and place the bowl(s) in the refrigerator.
Refrigerate pudding for at least 2 hours so it can set.
When the chilling time has ended, if you refrigerated it in a medium bowl, remove the plastic and whisk the pudding to loosen it up and then divide it between serving bowls. Serve plain or with the toppings of your choice.
Notes
Please read all of the information, troubleshooting, and FAQ info above, as well as the notes below before making this recipe.
This recipe makes 2.5 cups of pudding in total.
Any type of unsweetened non-dairy milk can be used. Make sure to use unsweetened, unflavoured milk so you have full control over the sweetness and flavour. I don't recommend coconut milk.
If you don't have vegan heavy cream/whipping cream, you can use more dairy-free milk in its place. If you do this, using a creamy plant-based milk will provide the best results.
If you want to make your butterscotch pudding without cornstarch, arrowroot starch (also referred to as arrowroot flour or arrowroot powder) can be used instead.
If you don't have dark brown sugar, light brown sugar can be used but the flavour will not be as rich. If you can only use light brown sugar and you have molasses on hand, add a half teaspoon to the pot when you add the sugar to make homemade dark brown sugar.
If you don't have vegan butter, you can leave it out, but this will result in less rich and creamy pudding.
If you prefer not to use plastic wrap, you can place the pudding in an airtight container, but keep in mind that a thick layer will form on top of the pudding which will make it lumpy when whisked. Lumps at that point will not be able to be whisked back in, so to get rid of them, pass the pudding through a sieve and it will get back to being silky smooth.
The nutrition info listed below is for 1 of 5 servings (each serving is ½ cup) with the recipe made as written using unsweetened almond milk and vegan heavy cream. Nutritional data is only to be used as a rough guide. Click here for more info on how nutrition info on this website is determined.